US 11,780,576 B1
Long-endurance aircraft having tiltable propulsion
Kirk Landon Groninga, Keller, TX (US); and Danielle Lynn Moore, Grapevine, TX (US)
Assigned to Textron Innovations Inc., Providence, RI (US)
Filed by Textron Innovations Inc., Providence, RI (US)
Filed on Sep. 1, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/901,200.
Int. Cl. B64C 29/00 (2006.01); B64C 3/00 (2006.01); G05D 1/10 (2006.01); B64U 30/20 (2023.01); B64C 39/02 (2023.01)
CPC B64C 29/0033 (2013.01) [B64C 3/00 (2013.01); B64C 39/024 (2013.01); G05D 1/102 (2013.01); B64U 30/20 (2023.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An aircraft operable to transition between a VTOL flight mode and a forward cruise flight mode, the aircraft having pitch, roll and yaw axes, the aircraft comprising:
a fuselage;
a wing system including first and second oppositely disposed wings coupled to and extending laterally from the fuselage;
a tiltable propulsion system rotatably coupled to the fuselage between the first and second wings, the tiltable propulsion system including a frame system having four diagonally extending arms each having a propulsion assembly coupled thereto forming a distributed thrust array; and
a flight control system configured to independently control each of the propulsion assemblies and configured to control the orientation of the tiltable propulsion system;
wherein, in the VTOL flight mode, the tiltable propulsion system is substantially perpendicular to the yaw axis of the aircraft in a vertical thrust orientation such that the propulsion assemblies are configured to provide vertical thrust; and
wherein, in the forward cruise flight mode, the tiltable propulsion system is substantially perpendicular to the roll axis of the aircraft in a forward thrust orientation such that the propulsion assemblies provide forward thrust.